One thing we do know about Robert Anae's return to BYU as offensive coordinator is that he's been a moving target.

One thing we do know about Robert Anae's return to BYU as offensive coordinator is that he's been a moving target.

He hasn't been in the office shuffling papers and scratching his head.

Within the first 30 hours after Bronco Mendenhall rehired Anae from Arizona, he left for Knoxville, Tenn., to attend a convention of college football coaches where he and Mendenhall interviewed potential coaching candidates.

We also know Anae visited one of BYU's top recruits, offensive lineman Brayden Kearsley, in Beaverton, Ore. Kearsley, a 6-foot-4, 298-pound blocker at Aloha High, was considering staying home and attending Oregon State. Kearsley and Anae hit it off and he recommitted when Anae explained what he had in store for the offense — and how he'd teach him to pancake tacklers.

Anae then made a circuit around the state of Utah, visiting with recruits. He also made a push to shore up BYU's offensive line by chasing down junior college talent.

Anae has apparently hit the junior college circuit very hard, visiting Southern California, Northern California and Arizona, where BYU picked up a commitment from Eastern Arizona's Josh Carter, a 6-foot-5, 305-pound athlete who has been on an LDS mission.

Using newly hired offensive assistant Garett Tujague, the former head coach at College of the Canyons Community College, Anae and area recruiter Nick Howell got Moorepark Junior College guard Quincy Awa-Dubose to commit.

The value of Tujague's hire is evident. He's been a guy in the trenches of California's talented depository of community colleges. He knows all the coaches, coordinators and how they all fit. He's become a reference book not too unlike what BYU basketball got when it turned to junior college coaches Steve Cleveland and Dave Rose.

BYU doesn't need to load up with JC players, but with missionary comings and goings and the need for secondary personnel, rebuilding the junior college circuit for recruiting could prove valuable.

On his West Coast swing, Anae certainly hit JC tackle Nick Purcell, a 6-8, 300-pound tackle at Golden West Community College, who is considering the Cougars, Arizona State, Cal, Oregon, Oregon State, Utah, Washington, Washington State, Mississippi and South Florida.

After Anae left Arizona, his old boss, Rich Rodriguez, immediately hired a replacement, which may say a lot of what he thought of Anae, the only holdover he retained from Mike Stoops' coaching staff when he took over at UA.

To replace Anae, Rodriguez hired Jim Michalczik as his offensive line coach. Michalczik had been the offensive coordinator at Cal the past two years, and before that was the Bears' offensive line coach. He also coached the O-line for the NFL's Oakland Raiders.

What is intriguing in Anae's return is wondering how much of Rodriguez' philosophy will he bring with him to BYU.

Rodriguez, you may remember, is the father of the spread option attack deployed by Chip Kelly while at Oregon and even Urban Meyer while at Utah and Florida.

A USA Today college football analyst once said Rodriguez is one of the best offensive minds in the sport and his offense has revolutionized college football.

Rodriguez made this offense famous after its designs at Glenville State, Clemson and West Virginia. For lack of the right personnel at Michigan, it flamed out, but rose again in Tucson this past year when the Wildcats averaged 37 points and 522 yards a game. It also produced the nation's top rusher, Ka'Deem Carey — the first Wildcat to lead the nation in rushing since Art Luppino in 1955.

Popular Comments

Exciting report. Glad to hear it, but truthfully the story that the media
won't cover is all the false reports we got as fans about Anae's
leaving. How many other times have we been duped? Anae wouldn't have come
back if the reports
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9:55 p.m. Jan. 26, 2013

Top comment

sls

Columbia, MO

The weakest link in the offense this past year was the offensive line that
allowed the QBs to get hurt and didn't allow enough time to make the
correct reads. If Anae can produce a better offensive line, BYU is bound to
have success. Kyle Van
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Dick Harmon is a columnist for the Deseret News with a focus on college athletics. He previously worked as executive sports editor, sports columnist, city editor and police reporter for the Provo Daily Herald for 26 more ..